Albania men's national volleyball team

Last updated

Albania
Flag of Albania.svg
Association Albanian Federation of Volleyball
Confederation CEV
Head coach Giannis Melkas
FIVB ranking – (as of 8 January 2025)
Uniforms
Kit short left arm.png
Kit body blackshoulders.png
Kit body.svg
Kit short right arm.png
Kit shorts blacksides.png
Kit shorts.svg
Home
Kit short left arm.png
Kit body redshoulders.png
Kit body.svg
Kit short right arm.png
Kit shorts redsides.png
Kit shorts.svg
Away
World Championship
Appearances1 (First in 1962 )
Best result16th (1962)
European Championship
Appearances3 (First in 1955 )
Best result10th (1955)
fshfv.org (in Albanian)

The Albania men's national volleyball team is the national volleyball team of Albania. As of December 2021, the team is ranked 78th in the world. [1] [2] They have competed in many European and world volleyball championships, but as of October 16, 2021, are yet to win a gold medal.

Contents

Campaigns

Albania competed in the Men's European Volleyball Championship three times, in 1955, 1958, and 1967. They also competed in the FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship in 1962.

Albania competed seven times at the Mediterranean Games. They first participated in 1991 in Athens, Greece. Afterwards, they played at the Mediterranean Games in 1993, 1997, 2001, and again in 2018 in Tarragona, Spain. [3] [4] [5] [6]

Albania at the Men's European Volleyball Championships

1955

Albania competed for the first time at the 1955 Men's European Volleyball Championship in Bucharest, Romania.

In Group A, they faced France, Finland, and the Soviet Union. Albania lost their first two matches against France and the Soviet Union (both 3–0) but recorded their first win at a Men's European Volleyball Championship against Finland 3–1. Albania finished third in the group of four countries.

In the 9–14th place group, Albania faced Egypt, Italy, Belgium, Austria, and Finland. After a 3–2 loss against Finland, the team beat their next three opponents: Egypt and Austria lost 3–0 to Albania, and Belgium lost 3–2. In the final match Albania lost to Italy. Albania finished in 10th place in the tournament. [7]

1958

Albania competed for the second time in the 1958 Men's European Volleyball Championship in Prague, Czechoslovakia.

In Group D, Albania faced the Soviet Union, Austria, Turkey, and Yugoslavia. Albania first beat Austria 3–0, but lost their next four matches against Turkey, the Soviet Union, and Yugoslavia, all with a score of 3–0. Albania ranked fourth out of five in the group.

Albania then faced East Germany, Turkey, Italy, Finland, Tunisia, Egypt, and the Netherlands in the 9–16th place group. Albania was successful in beating Tunisia and Turkey 3–1, Egypt 3–0, and Finland 3–1. Albania then faced East Germany, losing 3–0. They went on to beat the Netherlands 3–2 in a close match for their sixth win of the tournament. In their final match for 10th place, Albania lost to Italy by a score of 3–0, finishing in 11th place at the end of the tournament. [8]

1967

The Albania men's national volleyball team participated once more at the 1967 Men's European Volleyball Championship in Istanbul, Turkey.

In Group D, Albania faced Poland, West Germany, Bulgaria, and Romania. Albania lost to Romania 3–0, to Bulgaria 3–1, and to Poland 3–0. They later beat West Germany 3–0, again qualifying for the 9–16th place group.

In this group, Albania faced France, Belgium, Sweden, Israel, Turkey, Bulgaria, and the Netherlands. Albania lost to France 3–1 and to Belgium 3–0. After that, they won 3 matches in a row against hosts Turkey 3–1, Sweden 3–0, and the Netherlands 3–2. To close out the tournament, Albania lost to Israel 3–0 and ended in 13th place. [9]

Team

Current roster

Updated: 17 October 2016

The following is a list of players that represented Albania at the 2016 CEV Volleyball European League. [10]

Head coach: Flag of Albania.svg Flag of Greece.svg Giannis Melkas
Assistant coach: Flag of Albania.svg Artan Kalaja
No.NameDate of birthHeightWeightSpikeBlock2015/16 club
1 Altin Gorenxha May 4, 1978 (age 46)1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)90 kg (200 lb)305 cm (120 in)290 cm (110 in) Flag of Albania.svg Studenti
2 Renato Kola July 8, 1987 (age 37)1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)64 kg (141 lb)320 cm (130 in)300 cm (120 in) Flag of Albania.svg Vllaznia
3 Osman Qepa April 2, 1996 (age 29)1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)79 kg (174 lb)345 cm (136 in)334 cm (131 in) Flag of Albania.svg Farka Volley
4 Redjon Koçi November 1, 1994 (age 30)2.02 m (6 ft 8 in)98 kg (216 lb)350 cm (140 in)338 cm (133 in) Flag of Albania.svg Farka Volley
5 Gert Lisha June 28, 1995 (age 29)2.00 m (6 ft 7 in)98 kg (216 lb)354 cm (139 in)340 cm (130 in) Flag of the United States.svg USC Trojans
6 Arbër Troka December 29, 1988 (age 36)1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)90 kg (200 lb)356 cm (140 in)320 cm (130 in) Flag of Albania.svg Studenti
7 Adriatik Kajtazi August 17, 1987 (age 37)1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)86 kg (190 lb)335 cm (132 in)325 cm (128 in) Flag of Kosovo.svg Drenica R&Rukolli
8 Gazmend Husaj December 23, 1987 (age 37)2.00 m (6 ft 7 in)97 kg (214 lb)360 cm (140 in)345 cm (136 in) Flag of Turkey.svg Inegol Belediyesi
9 Kreshnik Malaj November 9, 1989 (age 35)2.00 m (6 ft 7 in)84 kg (185 lb)330 cm (130 in)320 cm (130 in) Flag of Albania.svg Studenti
10 Enea Xhelati May 15, 1982 (age 42)2.02 m (6 ft 8 in)97 kg (214 lb)345 cm (136 in)335 cm (132 in) Flag of Greece.svg Pamvohaikos
11 Alvi Shurdhi August 3, 1995 (age 29)1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)82 kg (181 lb)345 cm (136 in)320 cm (130 in) Flag of Greece.svg Foinikas Syros
12 Asmend Kula January 10, 1994 (age 31)1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)94 kg (207 lb)345 cm (136 in)335 cm (132 in) Flag of Albania.svg Tirana
13 Blerim Pepaj November 9, 1985 (age 39)1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)90 kg (200 lb)340 cm (130 in)330 cm (130 in) Flag of Albania.svg Tirana
14 Anton Qafarena June 11, 1997 (age 27)2.06 m (6 ft 9 in)87 kg (192 lb)360 cm (140 in)340 cm (130 in) Flag of Albania.svg Vllaznia
15 Adri Arapi June 12, 1997 (age 27)1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)90 kg (200 lb)345 cm (136 in)330 cm (130 in) Flag of Albania.svg Tirana
16 Gjergj Bardhi September 12, 1982 (age 42)1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)98 kg (216 lb)332 cm (131 in)320 cm (130 in) Flag of Albania.svg Teuta

References

  1. ↑ FIVB World Rankings
  2. ↑ "Albania-CEV". Archived from the original on 2016-12-21. Retrieved 2016-09-28.
  3. ↑ "Athènes 1991. Participants" (PDF). cijm.org.gr. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
  4. ↑ "Résultats des XVI J.M." (PDF). cijm.org.gr. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
  5. ↑ "Tarragona 2018 INFO". results.tarragona2018.cat. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  6. ↑ "Dr. Giovanni Armillotta: Albanian Volley in International Field". www.giovanniarmillotta.it. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  7. ↑ "Men European IV Championship 1955 Bucuresti (ROM) - 15-25.06 Winner Czechoslovakia". 2012-03-28. Archived from the original on 2012-03-28. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  8. ↑ "Men European V Championship 1958 Praga (TCH)-30.08-11.09 - Winner Czechoslovakia (3rd)". todor66.com. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  9. ↑ "Men Volleyball VII European Championship 1967 Istanbul (TUR) - 26.10-08.11 Winner Soviet Union". todor66.com. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  10. ↑ "Albania team roster". Archived from the original on 2018-01-07. Retrieved 2016-10-17.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.